


Third Party Involvement

by misura



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Misunderstandings, Multi, Oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 05:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14888402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: In which Poe knows exactly what's going on with Rey and Finn. (Spoiler: he doesn't.)





	Third Party Involvement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [millepertuis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/millepertuis/gifts).



Poe had been waiting for it, more or less, but when the moment came, it still took him by surprise.

Specifically, the moment when Finn told him, "There's this girl," and Poe thought, _I know, buddy, and I think she's great too, and what's more, she very much likes you back, so congratulations and don't you worry about me for a moment_.

What he said, of course, was, "A girl?" as if Finn hadn't been extremely obvious about it. In fairness, Rey didn't appear to be very observant when it came to this sort of stuff either, so Poe figured that was just more proof that they were perfect for each other.

He wished them all the best, really he did. They were his two favorite people in the galaxy, after all: why _shouldn't_ he be happy for them?

"And there's a guy," Finn said, which was a little unexpected.

Poe chewed on this new information for a bit. True, there were a lot of guys around. It wasn't inconceivable that Finn would have struck up a friendship with one of them. In fact, what with Finn being such a great guy, it was very much to be expected.

If Poe hadn't known about any such thing happening, well, that was on him, wasn't it?

"And you know what, this is stupid. I'm sorry." Finn shook his head. "Forget I said anything, all right? Thanks, Poe. You're a good friend." A quick slap on the shoulder and he was walking away, expression clearly stating things were not all hunky-dory.

_I might be an even better friend if you let me help you out here,_ Poe wanted to say, but he figured that this was exactly the sort of thing Leia meant when she'd told him to think before he acted.

... Well, okay, maybe not _exactly_ , but close enough.

"You're a good friend too, Finn!"

Finn's shoulders slumped a bit. _Not a good sign._

 

Poe had given the matter some thought and hit on a solution. He felt Leia would approve, though not to the point where he'd actually asked her.

_We'll call that Option Z, won't we?_

Rey appeared to be busy having a staring contest with a pile of odds and ends. BB-8 beeped a greeting, which was cheeky of him and also possibly a sign that Poe should work on being more subtle when admiring people from up close.

Poe waited. Nothing much appeared to be happening, but, well. Jedi. For all Poe knew, Rey was busy fighting off six Knights of Ren with the power of her mind, or having a chat with a ghost or something.

Rey sighed and turned her head. The odds and ends started floating, as did BB-8. "Sorry. Poe. Hi."

BB-8 seemed to be enjoying himself. "Hey," Poe said. "You think you maybe got a moment? It's about Finn."

Rey got a bit flustered, which was cute. Finn did the same thing any time Poe brought up Rey. "What about him? Is he all right? Did something happen?"

"Relax. He's fine." Poe smiled. It didn't seem to help Rey get any calmer or less flustered which, again, was exactly like Finn. "It's just - look, he likes you a lot. You know that, right?"

"Yes," Rey said. "Of course. We're very good friends."

Did Jedi take an oath of chastity? That would be very inconvenient for everyone involved. "I mean, he really likes you. Really, really likes you." Should he get more explicit?

BB-8 beeped, taking the matter out of his (quite capable, thank you) hands. Rey blushed and said, "Oh," in a tone that told Poe ... nothing much.

_Deep breaths. You can do this. For Finn._ "Not quite how I'd have put myself, but yeah, that's the idea, more or less."

"Well," said Rey. "I - can I get back to you about that? Let's say - a week? Two weeks?"

They might be fighting for their lives again in two weeks. Possibly sooner. "Sure thing," Poe said. "You coming, buddy? We really should have a chat about language."

BB-8 called him something he possibly deserved being called.

 

"Let's face it, I'm never going to be as good a pilot as you are," Finn said. Leia'd given him carte blanche in picking a position to train for, which thus far had made a great many people's lives extra interesting and exciting for a couple of days.

Poe approved. Not that anyone'd asked him, but he didn't think it was a bad thing to remind people that stormtroopers were people just like everybody else, and that people were capable of change.

"You and pretty much everyone else in the galaxy, buddy." Poe accepted Finn's helmet.

"Not as modest, either, I don't think," Finn said.

"What can I say? I'm an impressive guy." Not so impressive that either one of his two best friends saw him as anything other than a friend, though. "And hey, you've spent, what, about a hundred hours in a cockpit? That's nothing."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Poe. You're really helping me boost my confidence here."

BB-8 beeped.

Poe rolled his eyes at him, then turned his attention back to Finn. "You know what I mean. Experience, buddy. You get some, then we'll talk about how good a pilot you are. I mean, hey, second-best pilot in the galaxy isn't so bad."

"Maybe." Finn bit his lip. "Did you know what _I_ meant? The other day?"

_During that conversation you wanted me to forget ever happened?_ "You like Rey," Poe said.

Finn sighed. "I like Rey."

_You've got good taste, my friend._ "And there's this guy you think she likes." Poe hadn't been stalking Finn and he certainly also hadn't been asking people questions about who Finn hung out with when Poe wasn't there or anything like that.

_BB-8 might have a point._ It was just ... Finn was his friend. Poe worried about him, worried about someone maybe not knowing Finn had been in the stormtrooper program and thus might interpret certain signals the wrong way, signals Finn might not even be aware of sending.

"She does like him," Finn said, neatly confirming Poe's rightness.

_No, she doesn't. I've seen the way she looks at you._ "Is that what she told you?"

He expected Finn to get flustered and shake his head. Instead, Finn nodded. "Yeah. Only she said he doesn't like her back, which is just crazy. I mean, you know Rey, right? She's great."

"Absolutely," Poe said.

"That's what I told her!" Finn's expression was triumphant. "She didn't believe me. Look," he went on, "you should tell her, all right? Then you and she can - I don't know. Do stuff. Together."

Poe blinked, mentally rewinding the conversation.

"I'm really happy for you guys," Finn said. He sounded very sincere, not even a little bit bitter.

Poe wanted to kiss him. Even more than he usually did, that was. "Finn," he said.

Finn looked at him, all sincerity and generosity and - _oh._ Looked like maybe Rey and Finn hadn't been the only ones just a little bit oblivious to what was going on around them in addition to the Resistance slowly recovering from the past half year's losses.

"Just so you know, you're not the greatest kisser in the galaxy," Finn said, a couple of years later.

Poe laughed. "Let's go see Rey."

 

Rey told him she didn't think he was the greatest kisser in the galaxy, either.

Poe replied that in this one case, he'd have to settle for being third-best - unless perhaps someone might be generous enough to let him get in some more practice?


End file.
